Of all the many tensions one has to manage during a work day, the tension between wanting to take a break and not breaking with your work pace is always tricky. Most experts would attest that taking an hour break from your work for lunch is humane, rational, and just the kind of siesta one needs before finishing the second half of a work day with energy and focus. But that’s an hour away from the work, an hour earlier you could be finishing whatever project you’re working on… and besides, wouldn’t the boss rather you power through lunch being productive than go out and take time to smell the roses? We asked employees, “How long do you take for lunch breaks?”
This information comes from the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably. Over 10,000 employees responded to the question.
The most common response remains one hour, but “I eat at my desk” came in second. The least common lunch length is 45 minutes, but sessions under an hour but longer than 45 or 30 minutes were solidly represented by employee responses.
While most work departments voted along the lines of all employees, choosing one hour as the most common length of their lunch breaks, a few work departments broke from the pack. Workers in Product, Operations, and the Executive Suite all most frequently ate their lunches at their desks, implying that a full break away from their work stations is not practical in those roles.
PRODUCT
OPERATIONS
EXECUTIVES
Broken down into ethnicity of respondents, one hour is still the lunch period of choice. “I eat at my desk” was the least popular choice for African-American respondents. Taking the most hour-long lunches are the Hispanic/Latinos and the Asian/Pacific Islanders, both at 36%.
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
ASIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDERS
CAUCASIANS
HISPANIC/LATINOS
Less experienced workers take longer lunches. For Gen Z and young Millennial workers, hour-long lunches are common. For older workers, aged 46-55, lunch at their desk was the most common choice.
18-25
26-30
46-50
51-55
Latest reading as of July 24.
